It is worth having the AIS recorded info line stored on your mobile which details Retrictions to Flying and Airspace Upgrades for the day. I usually dial this on the way to the flying club just to get a picture of what's happening as often one chum or another will suggest an impromptu flying jaunt (and we happen to be v close to Farnborough).
AIS: 0500 354 802 (and 0044 20 8750 3939 from abroad)
Obviously for pre-planned trips I do review the NOTAMS, in my case on the Skybook site which is the best one I have come across (
Europe's most integrated pre-flight briefing service for the General Aviation (GA) pilot). This is generally a highly tedious experience (on any site) because even with a narrow route briefing the filtering is so crude that one ends up with 95% of cr*p. Even if you exclude enroute airports you still have to read about all the taxi lights that don't work (and cranes, although the base of flight has been set at 3000'
). Most sane people would do their best to avoid this junk. My answer would be to heavily fine someone for entering a NOTAM in the first place without bothering to set realistic parameters. Kite flying should not appear on a route set at FL50 !! I'm convinced they deliberately chuck in everything to absolve themselves of any possible liability . . . . but by doing so they heavily degrade the effectiveness of the system. . . ..